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For improving the photogenerated cathodic protection performance of TiO2 on 304 stainless steel, TiO2 nanobelts were prepared on the surface of Ti sheet by anodization, TiO2/Au films were prepared by ion sputtering, and finally the Z-type heterojunction TiO2/Au/CdS heterojunction composite films were obtained by successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction methods. Meanwhile, X-ray diffractometer, scanning electron microscope, energy spectrometer, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to analyze the crystal structure, surface morphology, element distribution, valence state of each element, and bond energy of the prepared films. A spectrophotometer was used to analyze the optical properties of the film, and an electrochemical workstation was employed to evaluate the photogenerated cathodic protection performance of the film on 304 stainless steel. Results showed that the TiO2/Au(10)/CdS composite film had the best photogenerated cathodic protection effect on 304 stainless steel with the open circuit potential of -1.252 V (vs SCE), and the photogenerated current density of 2.697 mA/cm2, which was 14 times that of pure TiO2 (0.185 mA/cm2). Besides, TiO2 combined Au and CdS to form a Z-type heterojunction, and this Z-type charge transfer mechanism could change the migration path of photogenerated electrons and promote the separation of photogenerated electrons and holes, and hence the films could provide effective cathodic protection for 304 stainless steel.

This paper investigates the spillover effects of middle school students taking up academic tutoring on students' cognitive and noncognitive skills in the same class in China. The identification relies on variations across classes within schools, which are formed roughly randomly. Correcting for measurement error, we find a significantly positive spillover effect of peers' academic tutoring on students' English test scores, and no spillover effect exists on students' ranks at the school level. For noncognitive performance, we find a positive spillover effect of academic tutoring on improving confidence. Our results show no positive external welfare exists for academic tutoring for students' grades or ranks, consistent with the newly released 'Double Reduction' policy that the Chinese government prohibits extra academic tutoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Generative text summaries often suffer from factual inconsistencies, where the summary deviates from the original text. This significantly reduces their usefulness. To address this issue, we propose a novel method for improving the factual accuracy of Chinese summaries by leveraging dependency graphs. Our approach involves analyzing the input text to build a dependency graph. This graph, along with the original text, is then processed by separate models: a Relational Graph Attention Neural Network for the dependency graph and a Transformer model for the text itself. Finally, a Transformer decoder generates the summary. We evaluate the factual consistency of the generated summaries using various methods. Experiments demonstrate that our approach improves about 7.79 points compared to the baseline Transformer model on the Chinese LCSTS dataset using ROUGE-1 metric, and 4.48 points in the factual consistency assessment model StructBERT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phaseolus vulgaris is a globally important legume cash crop, which can carry out symbiotic nitrogen fixation with rhizobia. The presence of suitable rhizobia in cultivating soils is crucial for legume cropping, especially in areas beyond the plant-host native range, where soils may lack efficient symbiotic partners. We analyzed the distribution patterns and traits of native rhizobia associated with P. vulgaris in soils of Yunnan, where the common bean experienced a recent expansion. A total of 608 rhizobial isolates were tracked from soils of fifteen sampling sites using two local varieties of P. vulgaris. The isolates were discriminated into 43 genotypes as defined by IGS PCR-RFLP. Multiple locus sequence analysis based on recA, atpD and rpoB of representative strains placed them into 11 rhizobial species of Rhizobium involving Rhizobium sophorae, Rhizobium acidisoli, Rhizobium ecuadorense, Rhizobium hidalgonense, Rhizobium vallis, Rhizobium sophoriradicis, Rhizobium croatiense, Rhizobium anhuiense, Rhizobium phaseoli, Rhizobium chutanense and Rhizobium etli, and five unknown Rhizobium species; Rhizobium genosp. I~V. R. phaseoli and R. anhuiense were the dominant species (28.0% and 28.8%) most widely distributed, followed by R. croatiense (14.8%). The other rhizobial species were less numerous or site-specific. Phylogenies of nodC and nifH markers, were divided into two specific symbiovars, sv. phaseoli regardless of the species affiliation and sv. viciae associated with R. vallis. Through symbiotic effect assessment, all the tested strains nodulated both P. vulgaris varieties, often resulting with a significant greenness index (91–98%). However, about half of them exhibited better plant biomass performance, at least on one common bean variety, and two isolates (CYAH-6 and BLYH-15) showed a better symbiotic efficiency score. Representative strains revealed diverse abiotic stress tolerance to NaCl, acidity, alkalinity, temperature, drought and glyphosate. One strain efficient on both varieties and exhibiting stress abiotic tolerance (BLYH-15) belonged to R. genosp. IV sv. phaseoli, a species first found as a legume symbiont. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to a shortage of labor, the harvesting of fruits and vegetables faces significant challenges. Soft robotic hands, adaptable to variable environments due to their high-curvature bending and twisting, have garnered widespread attention and usage. However, their application in Sichuan pepper picking remains largely unexplored. Therefore, this study proposes a picking soft robotic hand composed of a rigid skeleton and flexible skin for pepper harvesting. Through analyzing the characteristics of peppers, the structure of the robotic hand is determined. Inflatable airbags are employed to drive finger bending, utilizing a rotating–twisting method for Sichuan pepper picking. Structural parameters influencing the bending angle of the airbags were determined through theoretical analysis and validated via simulation. Optimal parameter combinations for the airbags were obtained through response surface experiments to establish the robotic hand model. To assess the feasibility of the robotic hand's movement, dynamic simulations were conducted using R D (RecurDyn V9R2) software. Subsequently, a discrete element model of Sichuan pepper clusters was established and coupled with the simulation of the Sichuan pepper picking process. The results indicate that the robotic hand does not cause damage to the Sichuan peppers during picking. Finally, field tests were conducted in pepper orchards to validate the success rate of the robotic hand in picking, yielding an 85% success rate and a 0.3% damage rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]